


Glitters and Snakes.

by BugheadBitch



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: #riverdaleevents, Dark Betty Cooper, Dark!Jughead, Dom Jughead Jones, Drunk Sex, Eventual Smut, F/M, Gang Wars, Hate Sex, Rape-Free fanfic, Soft Betty, Southside Serpent Jughead Jones, Sub Betty Cooper, Swearing, Toni Topaz Needs a Hug, Violence, archie being arcHOE, bad parentdale, betty needs therapy, bughead - Freeform, cheronica on stakes, choni slowly rises, enemies to lovers?, hal is a bigger bitch, hater betty, hiram is a bitch, jughead needs a brain, lusty serpent king, major character death but not in the main pairing, non-con(abuse hair pulling strangling), protective bughead, serpent queen, soulmates trope, southside serpents, toni and oc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-07-27 03:55:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20039521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BugheadBitch/pseuds/BugheadBitch
Summary: A stroke of midnight and the shine that erupted from the crescent on her breast was the alarm of her reckoning by the hands of her own soulmate who liked playing with flames and burning everyone in the wake of his desires.When Jughead barged in the Cooper’s residence, he just had the intentions to give Hal Cooper a lesson for his life but instead, he ended up taking a blonde-haired princess which happened to be the one he’s been looking for everywhere. She was his companion, not by choice but by the boundings of fate.The Serpent King was destined to be marked with the daughter of his biggest enemy and she hated him with all her might but life had other plans for both of them.





	1. Chapter 1

_Maybe we're two halves of the same star._

_The oceans you put between us were unable to tear us apart._

1825 days. It's been exactly 1825 days she'd been away from her family, her friends and her beloved hometown but now she was finally free from the hustle of the busy New York streets and back into her peaceful, small town. She straightened her arms up in the air through the cabriolet and tripped back her head. Her hair weaved with the wind and her eyes were closed in an attempt to feel what she missed out and. A big smile covered her face after so long as she breathed in the salty fresh air of the Sweetwater River and memories of her childhood flashed before her eyes. The giggles, the laughter the silly things she and her friends used to do alongside the river, all came rolling back to her. She couldn't wait to meet all her gang again and rejoice all the good things she missed.

A beautiful green-eyed, innocent blonde with a perfect ponytail and a smile, Elizabeth Cooper was an old and simple soul but no one knew that she had the weight of the world on her little shoulders. The moles on her face were the symbols of beauty and prestige she owned. Her soft nature homed her in many hearts and she was a ray of hope and sunshine for her pretentious and deceiver family but she loved them anyway. Five years ago The Coopers decided that it was better to let Betty go because if she lived in Riverdale with her sister already pregnant at 19 and her father playing a part in the civil wars it would be a bad influence. Although Betty opposed this idea, soon she realized it was the best of the worst things that could happen. She convinced herself into being glad about the adventures that were yet to come but something inside her just missed everything she left behind.

All the things often came flooding back to her. Holding his baby brother in her arms when Alice ridiculed him. Fighting with Polly over nonsense. Meeting up with friends at Pops and picnics on the Sweetwater River. Movie nights with Veronica at the Bijou and daring ventures to the Southside and Fox forest in the middle of the nights. She missed everything endearingly.

While in New York when the times got tough she always remembered her mother saying _'You're my only hope Elizabeth, please don't fail me like the others did'_ that's exactly what kept her going. She was the only hope of her family and only she could get a decent education and support her parents especially her mother.

Her life was never easy. A strict-for-no-reason, typical breakfast mother, a barely present father, a sister who never cared for her and a whole lot of pressure for being the perfect daughter always weighed on her. There were many things that she was worried about, and one of them was her age. 23 and still single. _Oh my dear, that's just awful, _her grandma always said it almost every moment after she turned 18 and Betty always rolled her eyes. This chapter of her life pained Alice more than it ever bothered Betty. People often found out their mates when they're between the ages of 15-20 but it wasn't her case.

Another thing was the unnecessary embarrassment she felt when someone asked where her soul-mark was. She'd always turn red and sometimes pale even when Alice told her that it's normal to have a soul-mark on your breast but she felt silly about it. _Can't I just flaunt it like Cheryl and Veronica do with matching wrists? _she often used to ask herself. _How the hell was she supposed to find someone who had a crescent on his chest?_ That would be awkward to ask someone _'Hey! Perhaps you take off your shirt! I just wanna be sure that you don't have anything to do with my life'_ It was the holy rule that your soulmate will find you wherever you are at the right time and right place but Betty often felt like her's is either dead or just simply doesn't care.

"Wanna go to Pops after a torture session with your mother?" Veronica laughed pulling in the driveway. She applied the brakes like she usually does by freaking the crap out of the people who rode with her and they even often see the angel of death in front of them, some of them had Ave Maria banging loudly in their heads and Betty was the one who almost met divinity more times than anyone else ever did.

"Who gave you a fucking license?" Betty ignored her question, holding the dashboard with firm hands and wide eyes. Veronica just laughed out loud in his usual manner like she was proud of her bad driving skills.

"Oh shut up! Let's go inside before Alice dumps the tea tray in the driveway" she whispered and both of them smiled making their way inside the Cooper's residence which looked more like a crappy pastel-filled interior store for toddlers. 

Veronica Lodge was Betty's best friend and Cheryl Blossom's girlfriend. They were to first ones to match at the age of only 13 when they first met. Betty didn't even know what soulmates or gays were until that happened. Both of them told Betty that how they used to feel different about themselves and when guys talked to them they never liked it. Betty used to listen to their stories with so much interest and wondered if she'd match with a girl or a guy. The Lodges and Blossoms finally made a truce after ages of war just because fate put them in such a situation. Both Veronica and Cheryl were young and silly so they used to flaunt their matching soul marks in the hallways of elementary school attaining gasps from children all along. That made Betty jealous because let alone flaunt, she couldn't even show her soul mark to anyone.

The next ones to match were Archie and Kevin at 16. This made Betty think that maybe her soulmate is also a girl which made it impossible for her to find since no girl liked to roam around half-naked in the hallways of Riverdale High. This gave so much anxiety to little Betty. Slowly all the people around her started to find the ones they were meant to be with, even Polly found Jason but she was left hanging.

Meanwhile, Jughead believed that he shouldn't just keep his charm limited to one woman so he decided to taste every flavor of lust that existed in this world before he finds the one he's meant to be with. He was stern, cold and monstrous, a worshipper of power and lust. In short opposite from Betty in every aspect. His hard face and gleaming eyes were the hues of nightmares of many people but no one knew what went on inside and he was intended to keep it that way.

He took Serpents to a new toll, where FP could never even imagine. Two years after succession he took over the whole town with his gang and no one had the power to object against the King so everyone bowed before him. Everything around and inside him was dark and poisonous and he was dripping in revenge. Revenge of his father and the way this town choked him to death, the revenge of his terrible childhood and everything that made him a monster kept him up at nights as he smoked his frustration in the air while thinking about the ill-fate beauty who was destined to be his Queen. As eager as he was to find her out, he was also scared of what might happen if she won't be able to handle the devil inside him. He looked all dark and gloomy but inside, Jughead was broken and that's exactly what led him in many wrong ways.

"Joaquin will be here tonight" Toni said, standing behind him. She was cursing under her breath while looking at his condition. He looked more like a homeless man and she was fuming. He slowly massaged his forehead to get off the hangover that was thumping in his head but it was no use when Toni was constantly shouting in his ears. Her voice was piercing through his ear-walls and drilling holes in his brain. "and who was that girl last night?"

"What does he want?" he spat back ignoring her question and grabbing his shirt from the side and throwing it on the ground and then gliding inside the covers again. 

"I don't know!" she spat again, this time with more rage in her voice. She started fidgeting her fingers and tapping her feet on the ground and her eyes traveled back and forth like crazy. "He said he has some big ass information and he's only gonna tell you!"

"Just when I thought I could get a day off of this bullshit" he shot up from the bed and blurted while she tried to keep her calm and contained herself from throwing something at his face. 

"I think it's important so you should quit being a rat for one night and come down" she said, searching for any indication of a truthful agreement on his face and when she found none she knew that Joaquin will be staying the night at the Wyrm.

"Will be down!" he replied with no intention of doing so and she barged out with a slightly disappointed look.

She knew him better than anyone ever will. Actually, she was the only one he ever let in. Toni was as unfortunate and lonely as Jughead was. They grew up on the streets together. The footsteps of Southside High, the Sunnyside Trailer park and the projector room of the Drive-in were the witness of the laughter, the tears and the pain Jughead and Toni experienced. There was nothing in this world that Toni wanted more than watching her brother take up the throne he rightfully deserves but things turned in the wrong direction before she could even blink. He became ruthless and Toni felt like she doesn't even recognize him anymore. He was burning in revenge and lust that he forgot the warmth of the very few relations he had. He still loved her with all his heart but somewhere between the cruelty of his demons and the darkness weaving inside him, the bond they once had, weakened eventually.

"So!" she sighed running her hands in her hair. "What was the big news you couldn't tell me on the phone?" she asked once she nested down on the table the next morning with her family after a brief encounter with her weirdo father, who she was happy to leave out of the door.

All of their faces turned expressionless and pale for a brief moment and Betty hitched. The things they've been keeping from her for the past five years were starting to nauseate their lungs and she was back again. Back to solving hideous riddles of her twisted family. This was the part she hated the most. The pressure she always had on her for being perfect was just a cherry on top of her crappy life but the real deal was the lies and secrets of her family and they always tore her apart.

"Dad fucked up again" Polly inferred and Betty shot her up a look. Alice scolded her in the usual manner and reminded her of the etiquette she should be showing at the table while Betty turned red looking at her mother's stern face as she was still talking about all the things that don't even matter. "She needs to know the truth mom. How long are you gonna lie?"

Betty gritted her teeth. A mixture of confused and rageful but at the same time scared appeared on her face. _What could dad possibly do this time?_ she thought about all the things he already put his family through. Bringing a boy home and claiming him his son from his mistress, Check. Selling The Register by forging mom's signature, Check. Loosing all of his blood-money in the gamble, Check. Draining Polly's college slash labor fund, Check. _Is there anything left for him to fuck up now?_ That thought often kept Betty up at nights when she was sad and alone in her dorm room but alas! Whatever he did in the past was just a teaser.

"He made a deal with the Devil and now he's coming for his neck" she said out loud again and this time, the furious look on Alice's face was an indication of something really bad. "Serpent King employed dad to start construction of the state but dad fucked up and now he wants his money back"

"King? Since when do street Serpents have a Goddamn king?" Betty's eyes started to widen. Her green orbs were filled with so many questions and the fact that she was being lied to again, made her blood boil in her veins.

"The new ruler of the town" Alice interjected, finally seeming to slide off from all the secrecy she held inside her. "FP's son Forsythe"

"He's a dangerous monster Betty!" she said sighing and feeding baby Juni from the plate, who looked at their worried faces innocently. "And the Serpents aren't just a street gang anymore"

"Dad and Forsythe have been on each other's neck since the past three years but now it's getting serious" Chic spoke out of the blue. It was like he needed to interject whatever he was holding on to for too long but he instantly gained serious glares from the two women sitting on the other side. Betty's attention went to his embarrassed face and she scoffed. He'd always been like this. He was never really accepted into this family and that pained Betty so much. He was just a child when Hal brought him in and everyone except Betty ridiculed him into being a mistake. He always paid the price of something he'd never done and for Polly and Alice, he'd always be a burden.

"What exactly happened between dad and him?"

Polly and Alice looked at each other and rolled their eyes. A gesture Betty recognized too damn perfectly.

"Hal gambled and lost all the money he was supposed to build the Wythe Wyrm with and-" Alice spoke with a lump in her throat getting bigger with each passing second. 

"And?" her stern face and cold voice were getting graver.

"It's going on for three years. Dad was stuck up to him and now he's out for blood"

It was enough for Betty to lose her mind again. They have been in crisis before too but never this much. Hal crossed the line this time and he threw himself and his family on a snake's step and there was no way in sight for them to get out of this mess.

"We don't have much time, we might have to leave Riverdale by the end of the month"

"Look who's here" Toni spat while watching a figure appearing in the stairs of the old Wyrm. He rubbed his eyes and blinked twice before gaining full composure of his surroundings. He still wasn't wearing a shirt and all the Serpents could see the mark on his chest clearly. The girls were already drooling and the older Serpents started whispering about his careless behavior towards women and relationships and all the things he does but it was a usual and Jughead never paid any mind to it.

"What's up sis?" he raised his eyebrows while grabbing a bottle from the old fridge in the bar and gulping it down.

"Don't 'sis' me Jug!" she rolled off to the other side of the bar. "Joaquin is still waiting for your beauty sleep to be over so he can spill whatever the fuck he knows" she fumed and he frowned. 

"He still hasn't told?"

"No!" she shouted and Jughead sighed.

"Bring him down. Let's see what got him so eager" he ordered and his men nodded while storming out of the Wyrm.

Toni was still furious about his careless attitude and she kept on rolling her eyes in annoyance without him noticing. All he cared about nowadays was the oppressive power he had over this town and he was determined to make people who disobey him, suffer. This part of his nature was new to Toni. It's true that power comes with arrogance but with arrogance comes the Devil himself and Jughead was beyond that level now.

"He just..how can he do that to us?" It wasn't just Betty who came back to town, it was all the horror, the lies and the hideous secrets she thought she left behind with her old and silly self were back too and it was the same old scene again. B and V, in front of the Sweetwater River, crying to each other about their crappy family lives. It was a diabolic sense of deja vu for Veronica. She didn't even get to spend a whole 24 hours with her family without being in the need of pouring her heart out. "I thought he changed"

"B!" she softly whispered, pulling her hair back from her face. "I promise you, it's going to be okay"

"I thought it was all over V" she sniffled and bit back a sob. "I thought it would all be different and everything I did would be worth it"

"It is..different" she said, in an attempt to calm her down. "Everything is changed..you see?"

"The only thing that is different is the way he fucked up this time" she fumed and wiped her stained cheeks violently.

Veronica was about to tell her that it's going to be okay again but she stopped herself. Who was she kidding? They are not some stupid kids anymore. There won't be any fairies who will cast spells and everything around them will stack back from the mess. They should be thinking practically now. Betty returned to Riverdale in hope of rekindling the friendships and the bonds she left behind and to find a job and settle down but it wasn't the case anymore. She had to leave again and this time, endlessly. None of them were happy about it but that's how life is and that's how they should roll with it. 

It's a cliche old saying that 'Life is not a bed of roses' but in Betty's case, it was never a day where she wasn't standing on the edge of a quicksand waiting for her hopes and strength to give way so could just collapse in the midst of chaos. The rage she was building up was evident through her eyes which mixed up in the dimming rays of the sun. The water was turning dark with every passing second and so was her mind. 

It was past midnight when the door banged loudly. As if the last two days weren't enough for Betty to just throw everything in hell and leave her sick family behind to burn, the unthinkable worst happened. The door of the Cooper's residence met the floor with a loud smack that shook them all to the cores. They fiddled and ran downstairs to see the mess that happened. The first one to witness the scene was Hal Cooper. 

“I’m going to kill you” Jughead snarled as he attacked with a big right overhand punch on his face which made Hal trip back on the floor. Before he could bring his hands up to defend, SweertPea drove his fist into his chest, slamming him into the wall, where he started landing solid punches on his face.

Jughead wanted to beat the crap out of Hal Cooper but the strange feeling that was emitting from his chest was making him dizzy. He came in with the intention to send Hal to the deepest hole of hell but he felt quietly distracted now and he didn't know why. He tried to stake off his mind from the possibility of the closeness he had to the other mark right now. It wasn't just the right time for it not when Toni was just balling her eyes out and the scar was crystal clear on her heart.

Meanwhile, Betty found it difficult to breathe. She felt suffocated and with the still unknown scene going on downstairs, she was stuck at multiple levels. She slowly made her way down, leaving her bed. Alice was begging SweetPea to let her go so she could stop the gang members from beating Hal and Chic but no one listened to her. 

"Please, please let him go" Polly's face burned but an animal snarl clawed its way up to Jughead's throat as he saw Toni's stained cheeks again. "You're gonna pay for this" He lunged and swung but missed. Toni saw this and instantly knew what was happening to him. He slammed Hal into the wall and then again, started burying punches, over and over again.

"No" Betty breathed as she was unable to look at it and form words. She wanted to shout and scream at him to stop whatever he was doing but her throat was killing her. 

Betty saw it helplessly as she stood in the midst of the stairs. Tears were stinging from her eyes when his gaze fell on her. She was unable to speak and her mind was frozen in fear unable to form a thought. He felt jolts inside his body as she came in the shadows of his emerald glare. While everyone was busy harassing the family he walked towards her and she froze even more. 

It was like something clicked inside him like something was meant to be but it was still prohibited. It was dangerous and sinful but the feeling was so darn amazing for Jughead. His smirk returned and once again he didn't care about what was going on in his surroundings. The walls around her started caving in as he got closer to her. She didn't know his intentions but knowing that he was the one people call The Devil was enough for Betty to run without a thought.

"Get away from her" a voice pierced through his ears and he turned his head around with the same smirk. It was Chic, fighting for Betty like she always did for him. Jughead let out a dark chuckle on the blonde-haired boy's helplessness. He was caught by two men and was struggling to break free from them so he could save his sister. Jughead turned around again finding the stairs empty this time. His deep burning gaze followed the footsteps of the stranger yet so intimate blonde.

She breathlessly ran upstairs, fumbling and tripping while he followed her. She looked back multiple times while running in the hallway as fast as she could and tried to lock herself in a room but it was too late. He was faster than she could ever be. To her surprise, he grabbed her and threw her against the wall, twisting both his arms.

She breathed fast and her face was a clear picture of terror. He mischievously closed the gap between their beating hearts and went a little closer to her terrified frame and she backed away till she can't anymore.

"Oh my-Where have you been?" he whispered grabbing her chin and his warm breath lingered on her face. She was beautiful and not at all what he expected her to be. Something inside him was silently grieving her innocence. She doesn't deserve a monster like him but then again he was dripping in desire. She belonged to him and couldn't be merrier than he was right now. A war raged inside him as a part of him reminded who she really was. Hal Cooper's daughter! His biggest enemy. A murderer and a fraud. _What if she was just like him? _ the thought made his senses go dark but he had to contain it right now. It wasn't the first time fate played games like these with him but the only difference was that he knew how to con it now. Jughead waited for this moment all his life and he wasn't going to let it be ruined. "You're coming with me" he hissed in her neck that sent shivers down her spine.

"No! Let me go.." she bobbed her head and pleaded in a scared voice but she was still trying to keep her composure in front of him. She didn't shed the tears that were forming at the back of her mind when he slipped his fingers to her throat, slowly caressing the visible bones which made her even more unable to breathe. She was instead, trying to take a hold of herself but was failing with every passing second. "Please"

His smirk got bigger and her heart sank in her chest even more. His sinister intentions were growing as he twisted both of her arms and pinned them back to the wall behind them. His breath smelled like mint and tobacco and it was melting hot on her coldly scared skin.

"Don't you dare defy me princess" he breathed on her trembling lips while licking his own, his whispers were demanding and his hold on her throat got stronger. "I won't hesitate" he said slipping a knife up to her throat "Understand?"

She nodded slowly and tried to keep herself as still as she could but somehow the fear he injected in her veins through his haunting gaze was making her tremble even more.

With the same mischevious smirk playing on his lips, he slipped her hand to his chest and pressed it on his stone-hard skin. The floor started to sway beneath her and her legs started to shake violently. The last thing she saw before darkness consumed her completely was the light that emitted when he did the same to her chest. _No! no! no! no!_ she screamed and shouted inside as the lump in her throat made her unable to utter even a single word. He smiled and tears started to slip from her eyes and rolled down to her cheeks. These were the ones she's been holding on since he first took a step closer to her. Betty finally gave away in the chaos and collapsed between his arms. Everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Hello! Lmao this is terrible but eNjOy..

It's been an extra-long day for Cheryl. She was impatiently tapping her feet at the ground and her eyes were constantly ticking between the clock and the door. She tried to distract herself with a magazine in her hand but nothing was working. She suddenly felt like everything had a connection to her. A horoscope? She has to see if she has fidelity stars were on her side. Nope! not working. A story about a Russian spy who was apparently hiding at his girlfriend's home. She didn't know that he was a spy. Again! A story about deceiving? not helping at all! A couple's therapy ad! She wanted to that but Veronica would never agree to do such a thing. She felt stupid that she was manipulating every single word to be something that it wasn't. Nothing had a direct connection to what was written in the magazine yet it still triggered her in every way possible. She was too tired to function but tonight she was going to ask a ton of questions and get answers but unfortunately, Cheryl missed out Veronica's side of the argument when she won in her head. She forgot that she must've had something to say in response to her lashing.

Suddenly the clock ticked 1 at night and with that, the door swung open too. Veronica wasn't too happy to see Cheryl waiting for her in a judgemental facade. She read her eyes perfectly and rolled hers while she decided to not pick a fight because she was too tired.

"Where have you been all day?" her eyes pierced into the ones standing opposite her as Veronica closed the door behind her. She, in response, slightly hummed like she doesn't care and sat on the edge of the bed, taking off her shoes.

Silence filled the air and choked her senses. The floor creaked beneath her trembling legs as she made her way to Veronica, hoping for the right answer to come out from her mouth although Cheryl knew that it would trash her into pieces.

"I was with Betty" she lied after a long pause and bit her lip to refrain herself for saying anything further. She took off her jacket and in no mood for more questioning at this hour she made her way to the bathroom door.

"No V, you weren't" Cheryl said clenching the cold sheets with her trembling hands. "I called her at 9 and she said you left three hours ago"

"So what?" Veronica spat back in rage. "Get off my back I'm too tired right now" 

"No Veronica!" Cheryl shouted. "Not today" she said trying to make eye contact with her. "You're gonna tell me where you were"

"I don't owe you an explanation, Cheryl!" she shouted again, pushing her hands away.

Cheryl's eye began to water as she sat back on the edge of bed otherwise she knew she'd stumble. Her hands slowly met her head as she sniffled an inaudible sob and then shot back up her head. Veronica's face was stone-cold, expressionless and hard. She felt frozen with anger and desolation. She showed a picture of noir and dourness and it was killing Cheryl.

"Can you-Can you at least-"

"No! No more tears Cheryl. I'm sick of you!" Veronica shouted before she could even complete her formed thoughts. "I'm sleeping next door" she said grabbing a blanket and a pillow from the bedside and barging out of the room as fast as she could.

"V?" she pleaded from the back but there was dead silence on the other side. She slammed the door and Cheryl burst into tears. She was holding on to them for so long. Long before Veronica even entered the room. Long before Betty told her that she left hours ago. Long before Jason called and told her about a girl she was with at the Drive-in. Cheryl knew exactly where they went wrong and she was ready to accept her fault but Veronica was past the point of forgiving her and now she was just drowning in guilt that she torn her love apart with her own bare hands.

Toni stood and waited impatiently for something to happen although she didn't even know what she longed for. It was a dry day and she was constantly eyeing an almost lifeless figure that laid in front of her wrapped up in sheets that smell like tobacco and alcohol. She was unconscious for the past 15 hours and it began to worry her. _Is she even alive?_ she asked herself then looked at Jughead who sat beside her working on a deal. 

"What did you hit her with?" Toni asked making a concerned face, tapping her feet on the ground beside his table.

"Just facts" he smirked punching keys into the keyboard, writing a dark prologue of his new life and wrestling with the laws of nobility, the passed out blonde he carried in his arms in front of a writhing Hal cooper was fixed in the frame of his rusty mind and he just couldn't stop smiling over his victory.

"What?" her face was both disgusted and confused.

"Nothing" he scoffed away her dumbness and continued hitting the keys. "Is Hal alive?" 

"Bastards like him don't die that easily" she sighed and rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Well then we have to try again I guess" he casually replied sipping away from his glass and slamming it on the table. 

There was a pregnant pause between them as she studied his face carefully for any indication of truth for whatever she was about to ask him. Although she expected white lies, she still wanted to try but.. who was she kidding? He was not the same old Jughead she grew up with. He was not the same person anymore. She thought that he will always have her back as a brother but she was wrong. In fact, the day Jughead told the first lie was the day Toni saw him in a new facade. She was terrified of who he was becoming and then her biggest scare came to life as he raised his gun and shot a man between his eyes. He deserved to be killed like that but it wasn't something she expected from Jughead. She lost him in the chaos of life. He turned down every opportunity of nobility and it was so unlike of him but deep down she knew somewhere he's still there and she hoped that he'll come back. 

His facade was just a delusion.

While sitting there on his desk, impatiently tapping his foot on the ground his thoughts collided with one another. She was invading his mind as she owned it. He smiled sinfully thinking about all the pain he put Hal through while he dragged out his daughter but it wasn't enough. It wasn't just to pain him, it was more than that. She was someone he waited for all his life but as always fate played the card the other way.

He smiled and looked up. _I see what you did!_ he muttered in his mind and looked down again. He had a weird connection with fate and God. Neither of them liked him and that's exactly why he was usually stumbled onto situations like this and when he thought he was too experienced in handling them...the ultimate happened. 

Jughead was stuck in a dilemma and captured in lung wrenching fog that unabled him to see or breathe. He can try to love her as she was his destiny but he can also kill her as she was Hal Cooper's blood and both of these things would bring so much pleasure. The real question was what to choose from these two.

His thoughts were touching the extent of selfishness. He wanted to rip her apart, to fill her heart with his fear. His fear! He wanted to make her feel all the pain he felt all these years so they can share something intimate. It was just a way of him expressing his affection.

Pain was the ultimate answer to everything he ever knew.

His gaze on Betty made Toni her lose her breath. She just couldn't put her finger on what devious thoughts he was having and her eyes were dripping with confusion. 

"Jug!" she whispered. He didn't respond as he was too deep in thought. "Jug!" she said raising voice a little.

"Huh?" 

"When are we sending her back?" she spat with a purpose. 

"Sending who back? What are you talking about?" he replied faking cluelessness and stood up trying to avoid her stupid questions.

"Hal's daughter Jughead! Who else do you think I'm talking about?" she raised her voice again and earned a glare from him.

"I haven't thought about it yet" he simply replied which screamed a big 'I'M NOT DOING IT!' She followed as he tried to make his way out of the room. His mouth tangled with a careless expression as he fidgeted a cigarette between his lips.

"Jughead!" she shouted from behind. "You can't ignore this matter"

"I'm not ignoring anything Toni! I just don't want to talk about it right now" he spat back on her face turning around and emitting smoke. 

She held his gaze furiously and breathlessly. Her heart was pounding so loud but it was not the time to turn back. If she won't stop him now, she'll probably regret not stopping him from doing something really stupid, again.

"Look at me Jughead" she grabbed him by his arms and turned him around. He faced her with the same careless expression that he was good at faking. "What are you hiding?"

"What makes you think I'm hiding something?" he simply said after a long pause and a sigh. He knew she was on to him.

"Did you-?" her emotions flickered through her eyes. They were mixed emotions of fear and curiosity. "You did something to her?"

His face turned blank with anger. She could see the rage building up in his stone-cold eyes as he clenched his jaw and fists together.

"I thought you knew me Toni" he spat poison. "I'm not my father!" There he was. The old Jughead!

Toni knew he was there somewhere and he'll eventually creep out but the thought that she really hurt him with these words stung her from inside.

"Call me anything.." he spat again, running his hands through his hair. "I can be anything! A creep! A sinner! A bastard or even a fucking murderer but I'll never be a rapist!" he shouted on top of his lungs. 

Tears started to dwell in the corners of her eyes. She really hurt her. She could swear she doesn't know what came on to her to blurt out such a thing when she knew it would hurt him so much.

"Don't show me your fucking face again!" he said slamming the can he had in his hand on the floor. The cracking voice of steel against the cemented floor made a menacing noise but that wasn't what he was worried about.

"I-I'm sorry Jug..I-"

Silence fell over him completely as he stood up a hand gesturing her to stop talking. His lips were slightly parted as turned his head over and he exasperated a sigh and he did what he was champion at! Ignoring and suffering in silence. He walked away before she could even blink.

"What in God's name happened here?" If 'nightmare' was a place! It would be Cooper's residence. Veronica stood in the doorway, wide-eyed and confused entering the home that looked like hell.

Broken door, shattered windows, blood on the floor and a crying Alice sitting on the staircase. It was horrifying and her mind went to Betty in an instant._ Was it all that king's doing? Did he kill someone? Or is it a robbery incident turned to shit? _Riverdale was not a very safe place anymore but she never witnessed anything this serious before. Many questions spurred inside her mind and it was the time someone answered them and set her to ease.

"V-Veronica" she sobbed into her hands and stood up trembling. 

Veronica rushed towards her wrecked up self and caught hold of her before she fell down on her knees again.

"Alice!" she spoke trying to earn answers. "What happened here? Where is everyone?"

She just sobbed into Veronica's arms for what felt like an eternity. Her muffled screams were an indication of something pretty fucked up and Veronica's heart was thumping like a goddamn drum in her chest that she could hear it beating in her ears.

"H-he's going to kill her" she mumbled under her breath. "He's going to kill her" she said again.

"Alice! Who is going to kill who?" she lightly slapped her face in order to keep her awake. She was slowly passing out in her arms. Her weak body was giving in as she sobbed.

"Elizabeth" she mumbled again. "He took her"

"Alice, stay with me! Don't close your eyes" she shouted while punching keys in her dial-pad. "Stay with me Alice, please" she pleaded looking at her almost lifeless figure in her trembling arms.

"She's gone" were the only words she uttered before the world around her turned black and dark.

Pounding! pounding was the right word to describe the condition of her head. Her eyes refused to open and drums were beating inside her head. She could feel a ray of light falling on her closed eyelids as the light was peeking its way inside but it wasn't sunlight. It was dark everywhere and just a mere ray shined in the whole room. _Where was everyone?_ she thought. There wasn't any smell of pancakes coming from downstairs nor were Polly's children screaming on top of their lungs. As much as she hated all this, she deep down got used to it in a matter of days and her senses felt slightly tingled when none of those things happened to wake her up. Her hands went to her head and she began massaging it to ease down the pain with her eyes still closed. Her eyelids were heavy and lashes were sticky from all the crying but she was having a hard time with all the pain to remember the events of last night completely. 

His gaze burned on her as he watched her move. He flicked his cigarette butts outside of the window from where he was standing.

_It's not been a whole day and she's cursed my life already._ he thought when Toni's accusations struck him like an arrow in the chest.

The sharp moonlight entered the pitch-black room tearing up the darkness. It was impossible to get the sleek sight of her writhing on his bed to go by without attaining an evil smirk from him but he was also angry. She breathed hard and tried to open her eyes again but they were heavy. It was just in a flicker of moments before she finally shot opened her eyes and suddenly cried in pain a little. That's when everything flooded back to her. Serpents in her house, Hal being beaten, Serpent King grabbing her from her hair and the mark! She coughed when the memory clogged her brain. The mark on his chest was the ultimate nightmare and she soon realized she smelled like alcohol and she wasn't in her own bed.

_Where am I?_ she asked herself, still trying to balance a throbbing headache and burning questions. 

"You're finally up princess?" he smirked, still blowing away smoke from his mouth into the air.

_fuck, fuck, fuck! _she screamed inside._ This can't be happening!_

She shot up to sit but her head didn't accept this as a warm gesture and she soon earned a jolt that sent her spinning. She was screaming inside but her physical energy level despised her inner one as she was unable to turn her muffled screams into audible ones. She closed her eyes again and her fingers gently caressed her forehead while she felt hot tears already stinging her eyes.

_no!no!no! you won't cry Betty. You won't! _ she said to herself._ You won't show him that you're vulnerable. You've been through hell! he's nothing._

A pair of strong hands reached for her as she flinched. He snuck the cigarette in his mouth and slowly grabbed her fragile arms, pulling her close. The mark was on a clear display on his bare chest and she hated it to an extent that she wanted to grab a knife and just remove it no matter how painful it would be. She couldn't get a hold of herself and she struggled to get away from his strong grasp but failed.

"Let go of me" she mumbled in pain and he frowned, quickly grabbing back the cigarette from his mouth that was contaminating his lungs. 

"It hit you pretty hard last night, right princess?" he whispered close to her ear, blowing smoke on her neck.

She hated how close he was to her and she also knew that he was doing it on purpose. She turned her face in another direction to avoid his sinful gaze but it was no use when he could see right through her soul. Her breath was hitched in her throat as he came closer. He looked like all kinds of sin, even his breath had a pungent smell of alcohol that burned her eyes. Creepy, arrogant, devious, dripping in blood and lust. He just couldn't keep his hands to himself and she just wanted to be away from his filthy grasp.

His knuckles slowly reached up on her stained cheeks. He could clearly see the fire, the anger and the hate in her eyes. She was flinching, tensing on his touch but it felt good so he decided to play with her a little although he knew she wanted to kill him. She gathered the courage slowly as his fingers traced her lips and she slapped his hand away with a loud smack. His eyes turned crimson as he wrapped his hands around her throat, squeezing it with all his might.

"You certainly have a lot of learning to do princess"

She scrambled to wrap both of her hands around his wrist in an attempt to set herself free. That strong hand around her delicate neck felt like a trap as she couldn't breathe and she struggled against him. She could see what he had in his eyes. It was a pang of hunger he was desperate to sate, an entitlement he wanted to wear on his head like a crown. He looked at her like he owned her, like she was something he won.

His lips curved in a devious smirk as he watched her struggling for air. He squeezed one last time before finally letting go of her. She fell back on the bed again, coughing like a maniac as tears sprung out of her eyes. Her head felt fuzzy like she was drifting onto a new horizon, it spun like crazy and her vision was blurry for a hot minute. He yanked her hair and pulled her head forward, close again to his face.

"Sorry princess" he sighed, brushing off hair strands from her red face. "I lost my temper. You're just so feisty"

Her eyes were burning the same. The same stubbornness, the same poison returned again in a blink, the moment she held her composure.

"And I don't like feisty bitches" he let out a dark chuckle, as his hands rested on her trembling waist. "Am I clear?"

Betty didn't respond. She was dripping in fear and it was choking her senses, freezing them completely. She wanted to act tough in front of him but she felt like he could see right through her just like she can. It was definitely a connection but she doesn't want to feel it. He wanted to play with her like his doll but she decided that she'd rather die than let him touch her. Her nerves felt hardening by the minute like liquid cement surrounding her, unabling her to move. She was completely trapped between his gaze and the scary moonlight that fell on his smirking face from the opened window.

"Don't touch me" she blurted when his grasp on her waist started getting harder and his nails dug into her silk skin through the sleek shirt she was wearing.

His lips parted and he exhaled multiple times on her stubborn behavior. He wasn’t used to of all the crap she’s been throwing at him and he was starting to get frustrated. His sighs were getting deeper and deeper with every passing second as her blood-filled eyes raked on him and she clenched her fists. They both were in distinctive situations.

She was furious as hell and she had the right to it. He was passionate but with sinful objectives and he just couldn’t wait to embrace her but she was repellent to all his intentions.

“Oh Elizabeth” he smoked, grabbing her chin close to his face. His eyes fell on her dry parted lips and he smiled. She gritted her teeth and tried to break away but he wasn’t going to let her do it again. He had enough. “I would love to kill you with my bare hands” he breathed on her neck. “But I won’t do it”

“I don’t need any mercy from you” she spat, still clattering her teeth in disgust. She struggled to break away from him but his burning gaze was stronger than her little hands will ever be. 

His eyes twitched like a bulb passing out of light as he smirked and pulled her head close again, grabbing her hair from behind. “You’re a fucking pain in the ass and I feel like I have to teach you so much” he whispered and scoffed again at her stuck up attitude and darkening eyes that she raked on him furiously. “But I always love a challenge”

He longed for a response from her but she kept quiet as he slowly raked his fingers up her jawline, caressing it softly. It’s been so long he felt something so soft under his rough skin. She felt like burning folds of velvet under his thumbs.

“I’ve been through hell Forsythe” she said clenching her jaw and her frustration was evident through her shallow breathing as she slummed out from under his touch. “You’re nothing”

“If you weren’t the one who turned me! You would’ve been lying in a ditch right now” he threatened again.“With a bullet in your head!” the amusement and calmness in his voice were eating her from inside and she just wanted to slap that smirk off his face.

“Why don’t you do it then?” she shot back instantly. Her voice was pitched and grave, it sounded like a wreck already. “What worst can I expect from a coward like you?” 

“You’re testing my limits princess” he slammed his hands on her legs, shaking her completely as he reached for her bare neck again.

“And you’re testing mine” her eyes went wider than she could ever expect in anger, fear and frustration. “Let’s see who’ll run out of air first. You or me?”

A fire ignited in Jughead's soul on her crept up words. He was the king after all and this little porcelain doll was giving him a hard time more than any of his bastard rivals ever did. None of them met a good fate but in this case, it would be a little different. Right now all he could think about was poisoning her with the medicine of her own stubbornness, to teach her a lesson she would never forget, to make her crumble under his touch so he could piece her up the way he liked but more than anything he wanted to corrupt her innocent beauty with his touch so they'd match with the same ruthlessness.

She was made up of all the tough sweet, glittery and beautiful things this world possessed but he was all dark and broody man who had a second snakeskin stained with blood and he wore it with pride and transparency. Fate must really hate both of them so it decided to drown them in hatred and loathe against the impossible.

For once she couldn't even comprehend what she just did but then suddenly his stare became more deadly.

"You just got yourself in trouble" he sighed calmly although he was enraged to a burning extent and his eyes showed an expression of tantrum that she literally choked. "You have no idea what I'm gonna do to you"


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember its ENEMIES to lovers and I don't believe in them showing soft side from the beginning. These characters will go through so much darkness and that's exactly what develops them for the later.  
ALSO, SOME OF THE PARTS ARE RUSHED AND IM SORRY FOR THAT.

"Where is he?" her shrill and loud voice comparted the whole gang.

Anger was an understatement. She was beyond angry at this point. She actually surpassed the level of mere anger and it simmered till it turned to venom flowing inside her veins. She shouted on top of her lungs as a whole army of Serpents gathered around her leaving their businesses.

"Ronnie calm down!" Archie said, grabbing her from her arms while Kevin looked at the surroundings curiously with a tense 'I'm leaving in a body bag' expression on his face.

"Where is your fucking king?" she shouted again.

She couldn't distract herself from the awful image of The Coopers she saw in the hospital. Hal barely survived and it would take months for him to get back on his feet. Chic was almost beaten to death and Alice was deep in shock and so was Polly and her little children. She wondered what he'd done to Betty or if she was even alive.

"Are you lost, shortcakes?" SweetPea shouted back looking at her standing little enraged figure and smirking. "This is Serpent territory! You shouldn't be here"

"Me and the King of Serpents have some unfinished business" she said staring into his eyes. He competed her sentences into the air when he laughed out loud. "Tell him that Veronica Lodge is here"

"Hey! What's all this fucking mess huh?" Jughead said appearing from behind the crowd. The Serpents scattered back suddenly when he shouted. "Get back to your places. Show time's over" he clapped his hands and everyone went back to their respective normals while he stared at the enraged raven haired girl in front of him and cocked eyebrows at her. "Who let you in?" he took a minute to register the somewhat familiar faces just too mock them and one face caught his attention fully. "Archie Andrews?" he chuckled and Archie made a sore face at his reaction.

If anyone was good at digging up old skeletons from the past! It was Jughead.

"What a surprise! Too many whores in the Serpent den today" Archie's face lowered when a smirk on Jughead's face appeared and Kevin noticed the sudden movement. "Is that your new boy toy Andrews?" he hissed glancing at Kevin, completely ignoring veronica's rageful face.

"I'm Hiram Lodge's daughter as I presume you know already" Veronica interrupted and he calmly nodded her to continue. "You have something that doesn't belong to you!"

"You mean that drug bag that was stolen from your father's car?" he said gesturing with his hands and smirking. "It didn't last a day in my hands" he casually replied ignoring the tensing of her already grave expressions.

"I want Betty! Now!" she shouted as Archie slowly grabbed her from behind so she wouldn't make the mistake of hitting him.

"Betty" he murmured under his breath as a smirk played on his lips. He knows her name and it was far sexier than he thought. "Betty" he repeated humming.

"I'm- sorry Ms. Lodge" he said in a mocking tone. "Serpents don't deal girls. It's against the nobel rules of this town" he scoffed mimicking and turned around to leave when she grabbed him and spun him around again forcefully.

Archie's expressions went wild when he saw her touching him as he tried to stop her. Fire was building up inside Jughead's eyes as she jerked him and he was painfully controlling all the urges to slam her head into a wall. _Nobody disrespects the King like this._

"Ronnie please let's go!" he said holding her arms.

"Yeah Ronnie I think we should go" Kevin finally weighed in from behind, his eyes were stuck on Jughead's angry gaze. Kevin knew it was a bad idea to invade southside unarmed or without any protection and he was now regretting not telling his father about the adventure they were pulling on.

"Take her away Andrews" he shouted. "Or none of you will leave my territory on foot" he threatened, clenching his jaw. "I have a special graveyard for invaders.." he eyed Veronica's gritted teeth "..and bitches"

"How dare you?" she spat again this time tears were spilling from the corners of her eyes. "You think you can do anything to anyone? Who do you think you are?"

He signaled her to stop right there by gesturing a hand her way. 

"You know what? The Nobel lessons you're trying to give me right now.." he hissed, rolling his eyes. "..they don't match your blood at all" his fingers pointed at her.

"Jughead!" Archie interrupted, stopping him from saying anything further.

Jughead's gaze turned over to Archie, hearing his name from the lips of a stranger was unusual and considered disrespectful for a King. For a split second, Jughead realized Veronica's cluelessness but it was not going to stop him from blurting out more truth if she doesn't shut up.

"I don't owe you any answers. Get. Out.!" his teeth clattered with one another.

"I won't shut up until I get her back" she shouted gritted her teeth and he smudged. She was determined and he was outrageous.

"Oh" he smiled mockingly stepping close to her. "I think I know how to shut you up" his eyes twitched on the shadow appearing from behind her.

"You're threatening me? Me?" she said stepping even closer to him and making hard eye contact. He couldn't help but grin at her fiery clueless attitude. That reminded him of Betty and he smirked knowing it would be harder to tame her now that she shares an attitude with a spoiled brat like Veronica Lodge.

"Enough Veronica!" a voice came from behind that totally shocked everyone at the scene and she turned around to see a familiar figure standing tall in front of her. A little guilt, a little embarrassment and a whole lot of chaos in her eyes. Archie knew what was coming. He defied the idea of entering the Serpent Den because he knew that all of it was bound to come crumbling down if Veronica came face to face with the egoistic King.

"Mother?" she spat, wide-eyed and confused as a sudden curtain raised from one of the darkest truths.

"You're coming home, young lady. Now!" she ordered in a dominant voice and before Veronica could protest she was being dragged out of the Serpent territory, held by two guards that came along with Hermione. Archie and Kevin took it as their cue to leave and she was left alone with Jughead standing there while Veronica's screams filled up the air around.

_Stop. Let me go. I'm not done with this bastard._

"I won't tolerate her bitch mouth again Hermione" he spat, raising fingers at her face and throwing a cigarette to her side while he blew out a long drag of smoke.

"I understand M-"

"Next time!" he spat furiously. "It'll be another dead body on your speed dial" his face was dead serious as he interrupted her. "Make sure she won't come back here or the deal's over!" and he stormed off without giving her a chance to even nod as she started heading back again as if nothing happened. She walked with grace like she wasn't just being threatened by the Serpent King a second ago. All those years of faking stability and inner peace looked so good yet so miserable on her. All those years of slumming it with the mafia and now living on the right side with the right man was enough to fake a facade but still, the haunting past comes to jolt her back whenever she tries to sleep.

"How are you feeling now?" Toni said, eyeing the door nervously.

Betty wrapped her arms around herself and looked down at her barely clothed self. She was like this for the past two nights and she felt utterly uncomfortable under his gaze. She desperately needed some new clothes that aren't her little night shorts and a see-through shirt. Her eyes met Toni's who had the same expression of fear.

"I-I don't know how to feel" she sighed, blinking her eyes on the ground. "Who are you?"

"I-I'm Toni" she said placing a bag on the couch. "I-uh-I'm Jug-Forsythe's sister" 

Betty nodded gently. 

"What's your-what's your name?" she pushed her bag on her lap and folded her legs.

"Elizabeth" she replied softly and then wondered why did she blurt out her real name in front of a stranger.

The air around them was tense and thick. It was mixed with guilt, disappointment and pain. Betty remembered her face from that night. Betty remembers her standing beside Jughead and crying while the Serpents were beating her family. 

"Look, Betty um-I-I'm sorry" Toni looked flushed and embarrassed in front of her. "He's not-He's not l-like this, it's just-" she sighed loudly while Betty's eyes wandered on her nervous face. "He's a good person just sometimes he gets angry and-" Betty looked up to her face confusedly. _Why is she apologizing? Isn't she in a gang who kills people mercilessly and kidnaps their daughters in the middle of the night? Strange._ Her head was facing the ground and her fingers fidgeted with each other. "He does stupid stuff and-"

"Why do you look like you're trying to prove something to yourself?" Betty blurted out and then realized that she was being harsh. Toni didn't do anything and maybe she was there to give a hand in comfort and she was being ridiculous. Betty sighed and turned her gaze to the ground because she was too egoistic to apologize right now.

Toni went quiet for a moment. Her eyes were quirking up and stirring hot tears inside. She slowly slid up from the bed and faced the other side. Her hands met her cheeks as she wiped off and smiled looking back at Betty.

"Oh no it's not like that" she smiled weakly. "Here! I-I brought you some clothes" she announced, taking them out of her bag. "You might want some till you go for shopping"

_Shopping? Oh yeah, I forgot I'm on a vacation._ Betty fumed.

"Toni" Betty said eyeing the clothes that would barely cover anything but then she looked at what Toni was wearing and concluded that it must be her choice that's why all her clothes are so see-through and bare. "Does-does everyone here, know about me?"

She was puzzled for a minute and then responded. 

"No, just the Serpents who were there that night know" her hands laid out another shirt. "No one outside the upper circle does"

"Is he ever gonna let me go Toni?" Betty asked, standing up. "What is he-pl-planning to do?"

Toni stood up along with her, straightening her clothes and running her hands through her messy curls.

"Honestly Betty, I don't know" a long yet precise dead beat sigh. She thought she knew him but she was wrong. She thought he'll never do something stupid like this but yet here he was. "I thought I knew him but...I don't anymore and I'm sorry"

_Think Betty think._ Her mind catapulted. _She is vulnerable right now and this is your chance. _

Everything that Betty's family ever tried to teach her sweet being was selfishness and taking advantage of vulnerabilities. She never thought that these things would come in handy one day but here she is.

Her eyes wandered furiously for a possible lead. There wasn't any way to be out of this hell hole. It was a big and filthy, darkroom and she had no idea what was outside it. Her eyes fell on the old, rusty windows. They had a layer of old net fittings beyond the glass. The windows were locked and covered with heavy curtains. She often saw him smoking beside them while looking out at the terrorizing moon late at night. That was one of the things that haunted her deeply. He looked over to her like a cursed demon looking at his prey while she pretended to be asleep when in reality, she couldn't even sleep a wink in horror. The two nights she spent there were the worst. He came in early in the morning and then smoked till the tobacco satisfies him but drenches her lungs. He sleeps in the chair beside the window when he's done playing with his switchblade that is often sitting at the table beside. 

"I'm sorry about that" she quietly spoke and met the brunette's gaze. Betty was searching for all the cracks in her soul to cut one open and use it as a light for herself. She had to do this, she had no other chance. Betty had to be selfish right now or that so-called King of Hell would never let her out of his burning gaze. "Sometimes the ones we love the most,..often drench our souls" Betty spoke from experience and as much as she hated what she'd been through, right now it was coming in handy. _Sometimes bad things you've been through give you a hypnotic solution to problems._ She sighed with her eyes and senses wide opened at a very heart-wrenched Toni, searching for any indication of softness.

Toni nodded softly and smiled, putting her hands on Bettys. It was an indication of the soft spot she'd been searching.

"What is outside this window?" she said grabbing random clothes off the bed. Making conversations by faking interests was a part of her job and she had a very tight grip on using professionalism to run away from her problems. "It feels so suffocated. Does it open?"

Toni zipped up the bag on the floor and walked up to the window, her hands on her hips and lips curving between teeth while her one hand went inside her pockets.

"They're just old garages of Serpents and Whyte Wyrm beside this house"

_House? More like hell._

She skipped a key inside the keyhole and opened the window. Betty wanted this exactly, now she just had to wait till Toni's gone. Toni hesitatingly turned around and met her gaze, clasping her hands together.

"You should get changed" she smilingly suggested. Betty nodded and smiled back at her, knowing that it was her cue to leave now and she can finally get away with whatever she has planned.

Toni stepped out of the room and Betty hurriedly locked it. She took big and deep breaths while her back faced the closed door. Everything was in control now. 

Switchblade, Check.

Windows, Opened.

Now she just had to change so she won't get noticed wandering around in the Serpent territory in sleeping shorts. Looking through the stuff, Betty concluded that Toni had a questionable taste in clothing as there wasn't anything that won't draw the attention of hungry, drooling Serpents towards her.

She was running out of time so she picked up a shirt that could be anything but a shirt and slipped it over. _I look like a slut. _She concluded looking down at her body. Her breasts were barely covered and it looked more like a camisole but she didn't have any other choice since other clothes were much of a show. The Serpent women dress like this so she had to do so too. Betty swore that if Alice saw her right now she would have a heart attack. Betty had to fake a facade so no one would suspect anything. Next, she slipped up a skirt on her long legs which was, fortunately, not that short and then proceeded towards the windows.

Betty picked up the small switchblade from the table. It had a black shiny cover with a silver skirting and the initials **F.P.J.III** on it and it was heavier than a switchblade should be. She knew it had enough strength to cut off crappy old net fittings from the windows and escape. She started cutting from the edges of the windows. It was more difficult than she thought. The heavy net kept on getting stuck on the blade and as it thumped, dirt erupted from within them which made her cough. 

_Sorry, Toni. You were nice but I to wish to never see you again._

At last, it finally came off and she slowly took off the net, throwing it on the ground. She breathed the air that touched her skin after so many days and sighed in relief. She felt like all the smoke that was filled in her lungs was slowly releasing.

She was barefooted but she didn't care as she slowly swung her legs outside and started running. The bright neon lights of the Wyrm and the rush outside indicated that it was the peak time and she had to be extra careful so she won't run into the raven-haired demon or anyone like him which she was sure were plenty at the southside.

"Jughead!" Toni shouted, barging in the pool room where SweetPea, Fangs and Jughead were laughing out loud at something.

Jughead eyed her unusual worried expression. He didn't forgive her yet and he's not sure he can but she was still his sister. He rolled his eyes and bent over the pool table, a cigarette hanging from his lips and his eyes on the shot in front of him.

"We need to talk" she announced.

"Shoot" he carelessly spoke.

"Its about E-that girl" she said, touching her forehead. SweetPea and Fangs laughed out loud and smacked hands together.

"Boss" SweetPea spoke. "Will we get to taste that damsel?" Both of them laughed loudly and smacking their foreheads together like animals in a fight.

Jughead's furious gaze shifted on both of them. They both instantly knew that they weren't allowed to joke about whoever that blonde was.

"Get out, both of you!" Toni shouted before Jughead could grab their collars and they both comically made there way out, scoffing and murmuring something under their breaths. 

"What do you want Toni?" he said, dropping cigarette buts on the floor and shooting on the table.

"I need to talk to you about Elizabeth"

A wide smirk appeared on her face as he spat out the finished cigarette and crushed it under his boot. 

"Elizabeth?" he whispered to himself. "This keeps getting hotter"

"Jughead! I'm not kidding right now" she said slamming her fists on the table.

He narrowed his eyes and stood up straight, letting the stick fall on the ground and sleeking up his face.

"You have to let her go" she quietly said and Jughead nodded in disagreement quickly.

It was a fast response and he does that whenever he's firm on something.

"Please Jughead! She has a life out there" she pleaded. "She has a family, friends and her whole life-"

"No!" he stood straight in front of her small frame and his face was rigid. "I'm not letting her go. End of discussion"

Toni looked deep into his eyes and traced any indication of softness but he was firm, cold and stern on his words.

"Jug-"

"I'm not! Letting her go!" he gritted his teeth together. "She belongs to me" he declared with a sly appearing on his face.

Toni was furious. She didn't realize what she was doing till he stood in front of her with a hand on his cheek and eyes wide opened. She, herself couldn't comprehend what she'd done till her hand was shaking.

She slapped him across his face.

The sound of skin on skin was still beating in her ears. She blinked many times while he regained his composure. He curled his fists and gritted his teeth, storming out of the pool room. The 'no one disrespects the King' rule doesn't apply to Toni but what she has done and for whom was the part that hurt him the most. First, she accused him for being someone he hates despite knowing him well and now this. His life was getting harder by the minute.

"What the hell mom?" she slammed the room window with her hands and shouted when she saw Hermione entering her bedroom in a nightgown and wine in hand. Veronica has been locked in a room since the time Hermione sent her home from Serpent's den and now she showed up in a careless manner as if nothing happened.

"Language mija!" she blurted, casually sipping from her glass.

"Let me out of this room" she shouted again, kicking the door that was held by bodyguards from the outside. "I need to go save her"

"Listen Veronica!" she said holding her chin up as she started trembling, looking into her mother's secretive eyes. The new horror, the new inhumane transparency that made her look like a ghost made her eyes go wider on the possible thoughts and the new connections that formed in her mind. "You're not going back there. I don't want another dead body on my porch" she whispered holding her hair strands as she slowly nodded in response but in her mind, the determination she inherited from the Lodges was slithering to an extent that it bled.

"But mom..Betty" she whispered, skipping a few tears. "Sh-she's in danger"

"I deeply am sorry for the Coopers and Betty mija but...I can't lose my reputation"

Disgust filled up in Veronica's eyes as Hermione said those words. "Reputation? Fucking reputation?" she shouted again, standing up from her bed.

"Veronica!" she shouted back. "Serpent King is a lot dangerous than you think"

"I don't care!" she spat again pacing around. 

"Well you should care, mija" she said forcefully turning her around, grabbing her arms. "The Serpents killed your father and left no trace of it. We can't prove anything because we don't have evidence" she confessed slowly touching her forehead. "I don't want it to happen again" she lied, faking a frustrated face. "I-I do care about Betty. Sh-she's also my daughter but I can't possibly do anything to stop it"

Veronica was sent deep into thoughts by the words Hermione spoke. She always thought what could be the possible loophole in her family's twisted story and she seemed to figure it out now.

"Promise me Veronica" she said quietly taking her face in her hands. "Promise me you won't go back there and I promise you, we'll try and get Betty out of there by talking to Sherriff, okay?"

Veronica knew that her mother was lying and there was more to what she was telling. She couldn't really get on her suspicious side right now so she decided to play along and nodded softly.

"Good girl mija, Now let's not discuss the mess of the Serpents. You're staying with me tonight and we'll have a light mother-daughter chat" suddenly her tone changed after she nodded and she started caressing her chin that she was grasping before.

"Does Mr. Andrews know mom?" she quietly asked, placing her head on her lap.

Hermione nodded and asked. "What?"

"That you paid the Serpents to kill dad?" the horror and pain in voice were evident and strong.

Hermione's eyes went wide and she choked on her drink. Her fingers in her daughter's hair flinched and trembled on her scalp while Veronica sobbed in her guilty mother's lap.

Betty wandered through the neon lights of the Wyrm and gazes of tall, dark and lanky men on her. She walked bare-footed but with confidence on the rough grainy, semi-cemented road to the faux forest. It was behind the rail tracks and Pops that was the heart of the dead town. The woods were dark and dangerous at night and she could feel her senses shivering inside her but she had to be strong. Just in case, there was any mess of pervs, she kept his switchblade in the skirt pocket and as a souvenir to remember that there is no such thing as a soulmate in this world. It's just a tradition of binding two-mostly-unlikely people together for the rest of their lives and then putting the blame on fate. She was walking past and far from him before she could even get to know him entirely. Her nerves clenched thinking about all the times she fantasized about someone who will strike her off of every problem and will help her regain the sanity she lost but it was just a dream and it ended miserably.

Here she was, walking alone at night through the sharp ticks of the dangerous forest. Trying to run away from the one she was meant to be with.

_Maybe God hates me._ She thought sitting by a dark, lanky tree. Her feet were hurting now. Thorns and broken woods pinching there way inside her delicate skin. She turned around and found herself not even a mile away from the southside. It was still a long way to go and she was already tired and broken. She could feel tears dwelling inside her eyes._ I won't let them get to me._ She said to herself wiping them furiously. _I've been through worse._ Once again she mounted her courage and stood up to walk with swollen and bleeding feet. 

Jughead was turbulent as he made his way to his room. He was beyond furious about the events of that day._ My own sister!_ His thoughts enraged. _How could she? And for a stranger like her?_

He slammed open the door to his bedroom to find it empty and cold. The dusty net laid on the floor along with her clothes and a wide-opened window. He curled his fist and slammed it on the door, shaking every being on the current floor. His knuckles turned red but the pain was nothing in front of the fire burning in his heart. 

_I should've given you a taste of it that night. _He talked out loud to himself, gritting his teeth and watching his reflection in the blade of the switch knife he found in his pocket.

His eyes lifted from the shiny blade to the cut window. He grabbed whatever he could at the moment and he started running without another thought, desperately in need to teach her a lesson she won't forget. He stepped deep inside the forest by investigating from his men about a blonde and all of them pointed to the woods. He had to make his movement sharp and fast so he can catch her before she enters the town.

Jughead was being quiet and giving her space till she adjusts herself in the southside but she ran away which enraged him. He was trying to make up for what he did but she -in his terms- turned out to be a brat and he was now beyond the limits of furious.

Betty couldn't walk anymore. Thorns and wood chirps were constantly aching her sensitive feet but she wanted to run away. So fast that he won't be able to find her. She was positive that she was two miles in already and closer to Northside and all of this with cut opened feet. It felt like an accomplishment.

_When he'll come into the bedroom late at night. I'll be far gone. _Her thoughts provoked her. For the first time in forever, she knew where she was going. Although the home was never a place she looked forward to but sometimes a friend can be your everything. She decided to crash at Veronica's tonight and then after a few days when everything would calm down, she can run away from the town. Far away, from all her dreams.

She stopped in her tracks, wrapping her arms around herself. Her clothes were barely doing any help in blocking out the cold and crisp air from reaching her skin. She had to warm herself up before she walks or she'll be frozen and numb in no time. 

Her face was hugging her chest and her arms were draped around herself while the blonde locks helped a little in covering her ears from freezing. She was gaining the energy to start walking again when someone from behind slammed her little frame into an edgy tree.

Betty fell against it hard and on to the rocky ground in an instant. She could swear that she broke a bone or maybe two and when the sound of blade clicking fell on the corners of her ears she realized who did that.

"I told you that I hate fiesty bitches" he spat through gritted teeth. He stood there straight on her grounded figure with a blade sprawled in length in his hands, in front of his chest and up her face. "You clearly haven't learned any lesson yet Elizabeth" he grabbed her chin with rough hands, holding the blade on her face. His breathing was uneven and furious and she was also choking on air. "But I think it's time" Jughead said wrapping his hands around her ankles, roping them up.

"Stop" she protested, trying to get away from him but she was having a diabolic sense of Deja Vu from a couple nights back and the only thing different was that she'll meet an even worse fate tonight.

"I told you not to defy me princess" he whispered against her trembling skin and the firm shiny blade on her tear-stained cheeks. "You're worthy of tasting your own blood now"


End file.
